STARGATE ATLANTIS: The Furies (Book 4 in the Legacy series)
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Authors: Jo Graham
Tags: #Science Fiction
Book four of the Legacy series
by Jo Graham
An original publication of Fandemonium Ltd, produced under license from MGM Consumer Products.
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METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Presents
STARGATE ATLANTIS™
JOE FLANIGAN RACHEL LUTTRELL JASON MOMOA JEWEL STAITE
ROBERT PICARDO and DAVID HEWLETT as Dr. McKay
Executive Producers BRAD WRIGHT & ROBERT C. COOPER
Created by BRAD WRIGHT & ROBERT C. COOPER
STARGATE ATLANTIS is a trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. © 2004-2011 MGM Global Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER is a trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lion Corp. © 2011 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
©2012 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All Rights Reserved. Photography and cover art: ©2004-2012 MGM Global Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
For my sister, Elizabeth
Acknowledgements
More than any of the other books in the Legacy series, this one is a team effort. I do not have deep enough thanks for Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, whose invaluable contributions have improved The Furies tremendously. Writing with the two of you is a pleasure!
I would also like to especially thank Gabrielle Lyons, who provided much useful advice, Mary Day, who gave me all of Eva Robinson’s best lines, and Katerina Niklova, who translated Radek’s lines into Czech for me. I’d also like to thank the advance readers who have added so much to this journey: Gretchen Brinckerhoff, Camy, Anna Kiwiel, Anna Lindstrom, Jennifer Roberson, Lena Sheng and Lena Strid.
Lastly, I’d like to thank my wonderful editor, Sally Malcolm, for giving me the chance to write these wonderful characters and continue the story of Stargate Atlantis.
Chapter 12: Son of the Ancients
Chapter 22: The Things You Leave Behind
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Through the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
— Andrew Marvell
John
Sheppard woke in darkness, unable to move, held upright by the thick fibers of the Wraith bonds. He could see nothing. The corridor was dim, and the alcove he was held in stood in deep shadow. If he could have leaned forward, perhaps he could have glanced up and down the hallway, but the bonds across his chest and throat were so tight that the slightest forward movement threatened to cut off his breath.
There was no sound. Either he was alone, or the other humans imprisoned here must be beyond speech.
A faint vibration through the soles of his feet did tell him something. This was not a planetary base. He was on a ship, each moment traveling further and further from anywhere his team would look for him.
Because he was stupid, and possibly terminally stupid. He’d been so sure that the message that had lured him to Gaffen was from Rodney McKay, his friend held captive by the Wraith and the subject of a terrible transformation. He was so sure that somehow Rodney had slipped out of the programming his captors had used on him and sent a cry for help. John had walked into the trap open eyed, going to the gate address Rodney had specified, only to wind up in the middle of a culling.
Which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Teyla had said she thought it might be a trap. Were she and Ronon here too, perhaps bound a few meters away? Or…
“Teyla? Ronon?” His voice came out as a rough whisper.
There was no reply. Which meant either they weren’t here, or they were unconscious. Or they’d already been taken to be fed on, some horrible part of his brain said, readily supplying the pictures.
No. He wouldn’t believe that. They’d never go without a fight, and if there had been a fight in the corridor he would have known it.
Besides, John thought, conjuring up the scene on Gaffen just before he was taken, Ronon and Teyla hadn’t been anywhere near him. They’d been back in the market, a long way from the gate. They’d gone to ask the locals if anybody knew anything. John had thought that was unlikely. Rodney wasn’t just going to walk up to people and say hi, especially since he looked like a Wraith. It was more likely he was hiding in the woods behind the gatefield, keeping an eye on the Stargate and the DHD, knowing that was where the team from Atlantis would arrive. He’d been checking out the woods with a Marine team when the gate had opened again and three Darts come through. It was more likely that some of the Marines had been picked up than Ronon or Teyla.
“Simmons? Hernandez? Anybody there?”
Silence.
John swallowed hard. He’d wondered how the Wraith had done this to Rodney, how they’d messed with him so thoroughly. Now he was probably about to find out. If he was lucky he’d be experiment number two, and at least he’d find Rodney. Maybe together there was a chance one of them would remember who they were and plot an escape. If he wasn’t lucky… He’d be lunch, and that would be the end of that.
How long had it been since he was captured on Gaffen? He had no idea. Scooped up by the culling beam of a Wraith Dart, he could have remained in the pattern buffer for days. And there was no way to tell how long it had been since he was strapped here. Hours? Not more than eight or ten, probably. Unless the enzymes the Wraith used affected his metabolism significantly, he’d be hungry and thirsty. Well, he was hungry, but not starving. A dinnertime kind of hungry, not an imprisoned for days kind of hungry. There was an energy bar in one of his pants pockets, but he couldn’t get to it, couldn’t move his arms or bend enough.